The present disclosure is broadly concerned with cyclone processing systems for comminuting, dehydrating and/or separating materials. More particularly, it is concerned with a cyclone processing system having a friction reducing vortex initiator.
Devices for comminuting, dehydrating and separating materials are well known. Examples include U.S. Pat. No. 5,236,132 issued Aug. 17, 1993, U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,979 issued on Feb. 4, 1997, U.S. Pat. No. 6,517,015 issued on Feb. 11, 2003 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,715,705 issued on Apr. 6, 2004, all issued to Frank Rowley, Jr., all of which are incorporated herein by reference. Such prior art devices include a cyclone chamber mounted atop a conical body, an adjustable coaxial sleeve for introducing into the cone the material to be processed from the lower end thereof and venting exhaust from the upper end thereof, a damper for reducing air flow upward and outward through the sleeve, and an air supply unit such as a fan. A material introduction unit or feeder device is interposed between the blower and the chamber, and material may also be introduced into the chamber through the coaxial sleeve. Processed material exits the lower end of the cone and may be deposited on a conveyor, a pneumatic conveyance system, or collected in an open bin. Such cyclonic devices are suitable for comminuting, dehydrating and separating virtually any known material, including materials such as minerals, plants, food products, recyclable materials and soil.
Cyclone processing systems may be employed for pulverizing and separating ores such as gold, silver, copper, kaolin and which are recovered from rock formations presenting a different density or structure than the ore. They may also be employed to pulverize and dehydrate materials such a gypsum, fly ash, foundry shag, coal, coke, phosphates and residual products of refining and distillation processes, including animal shells and crustaceans as well as bones, diatomaceous earth and soil structures. They may be employed to pulverize, dehydrate and preserve food products such as grain, and grain components such as gluten, and for fractionalization of the starch protein matrix, as well as for enhancement of lipid or fiber content for further processing or defatting. They may be employed for fragmentation and dehydration of fibrous foods such as carrots, apples, beans and spinach and for pulverization and dehydration of lignocellulosic biomass materials such as trees, seaweed, straw, peat moss, waste paper and animal wastes. Such cyclonic processing units may also be employed in recycling for pulverizing glass, metals, plastic and organic materials so that such components may be mechanically sorted and separated. The units may also be used to pulverize and dehydrate soil and to separate it from rock, ash, boron, hydrocarbons and other contaminants, either alone or in conjunction with washing, thermal, biological, or other treatment processes.
The comminuting or separating rate and the coarseness of the comminuted or separated material may be controlled by raising and lowering a sleeve positioned within and extending upwardly from the cyclone as described more fully in the patents previously incorporated by reference. Such raising and lowering of the sleeve is cumbersome, especially in larger units, where the apparatus is heavy and not easily shifted, and two-stage units, where one cyclone may be positioned laterally below another unit. Moreover, such cyclone systems are subject to adherence or sticking of entrained material to the inner wall surfaces of the cyclone inlet, so that it does not remain in the vortex and pass easily downward into the cone for processing in response to manipulation of the sleeve. This peripheral adherence negatively affects the throughput, ability to control particle size of the adhered material and overall efficiency of the processor.